In the News

La. Senate Approves Bill Banning Abortion After 20 Weeks

La. Senate Approves Bill Banning Abortion After 20 Weeks

May 24, 2012 — The Louisiana Senate on Tuesday voted 35-0 to approve a bill (SB 766) that would make it a crime to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the premise that a fetus can feel pain after that stage, WAFB reports.

The bill says the state should protect "the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain."

The bill would provide an exception for a woman whose life would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy. The bill calls for a prison sentence of up to two years for physicians who violate the measure (WAFB, 5/22).

Video Round Up

An Interview with Justice Ginsburg on the State of Abortion Access

In a rare interview, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells MSNBC's Irin Carmon it is a "crying shame" that state abortion restrictions are making the procedure increasingly "[i]naccessible" to many low-income women. Watch the video

Datapoints

A Look at Abortion Coverage in the ACA's Marketplace Plans, Repro Health Report Card, More

This week's charts depict why abortion coverage is unavailable in many states' ACA marketplace plans for 2015. We also feature a national reproductive health report card and an interactive look at abortion restrictions in Missouri. Read more

At A Glance

"[Roe v. Wade] protects a woman's freedom to make her own choices about her body and her health, and reaffirms a fundamental American value: that government should not intrude in our most private and personal family matters."

— President Obama, commemorating the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Read more